HIECH in My School & Amor Gratuiti: Love Without Limits (2022)

Some children learn differently. Some see the world through different lenses, process information at different speeds, and communicate in unique ways that the traditional classroom wasn’t designed to accommodate. These children aren’t less capable. They’re differently capable. And in 2022, we made sure they knew that someone saw them.

The Mephibosheth Training Centre opened its doors to us with the kind of warmth that only comes from a place dedicated to genuine care. This wasn’t just another school visit. This was personal. This was about ensuring that special-needs education received the attention, resources, and love it deserves.

Walking into those classrooms, you immediately notice something different: patience lives here. Understanding thrives here. Every small victory is celebrated with the enthusiasm it deserves. A child masters a new word? Celebration. Someone makes eye contact who struggled with it yesterday? Victory. Progress isn’t measured in standardized test scores. It’s measured in breakthroughs that might seem small to outsiders but are monumental to those who understand.

We combined two initiatives for this visit: “HIECH in My School” brought our foundation directly into the educational space, while “Amor Gratuiti” is freely given love. Embodied the spirit we brought with us. Because here’s the truth: special-needs education requires specialized resources. Adaptive learning materials don’t come cheap. Sensory tools, modified educational supplies, and equipment designed for different learning styles. These aren’t luxuries. They’re necessities.

But beyond the physical materials we provided, something else happened that day. The teachers pulled us aside, and several had tears in their eyes. “People forget about us,” one educator told us. “They donate to schools, which is wonderful, but special-needs education gets overlooked. You remembered us. You saw us.”
We saw the students too. We saw the boy who lit up when he received tactile learning materials that finally made sense to him. We saw the girl who carefully organized her new supplies with a precision and care that showed how much they meant. We saw children who society too often overlooks proving, once again, that they’re not invisible. They’re invaluable.

The families of these children often carry extra burdens: financial strain from specialized care, emotional weight from a world that doesn’t always understand, and constant advocacy for their children’s needs. When we show up for their children, we show up for them too. We say: your child matters. Your child deserves investment. Your child is seen.

“Amor Gratuiti” isn’t just a project name. It’s a philosophy. Love given freely, without conditions, without limits. The kind of love that says every child, regardless of ability, deserves educational resources that meet them where they are and help them reach where they’re going.

To our community of donors who made 2022’s dual initiative possible: you chose inclusion. In a world that too often separates, you chose to integrate. You chose to remember the children others forget. You chose to love without limits.

And the Mephibosheth Training Centre? They’re still using those materials. Those children are still learning, still growing, still proving that different doesn’t mean less.

It never did.

In 2022, we learned that the truest measure of a community is how it treats those who learn differently.